September Sixteenth
by Forensiphile
Summary: It's Sara's birthday and she receives an unlikely gift.


TITLE-- September Sixteenth  
  
AUTHOR-- Devanie Maxwell  
  
RATING-- PG  
  
CATEGORY-- SRA  
  
SPOILERS-- None that I can spot.  
  
SUMMARY-- It's Sara's 31st birthday and someone gives her an unlikely gift.  
  
DISCLAIMER-- Grissom and Sara don't belong to me. That's probably for a reason.  
  
AUTHORS' NOTES-- Big thanks to Midnight Caller and Meg, both of whom made invaluable contributions to this story. I know this story is a tad late, but I couldn't let Sara's birthday go uncelebrated. You might want to brush your teeth immediately after reading. It's likely to cause cavities.  
  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*  
  
  
  
"Hey."  
  
Sara looked up, startled to see her boss leaning in the doorway to the small locker room, his jacket on and briefcase already in hand. "Hey, Grissom."  
  
"Are you heading home?"  
  
Squinting at him, she wondered where else he thought she'd be going at 4am on a Wednesday. Was this his attempt at small talk? "Yeah. Long night, huh?" She grabbed her coat and slammed the locker door.  
  
"Good. I'll walk you out." He held the door before following her into the near empty hallway. Most everyone else had left; the day had started early and badly with a multiple homicide.  
  
The night was quiet as they exited into the parking lot, the only sound coming from the gravel underneath their shoes. Scanning the rows for her car, Sara started in that direction. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good..." She was surprised by his left hand cupping her elbow. "...night?"  
  
Grissom's face was inscrutable in the dim light. "Would you come with me for a moment?"  
  
Initiating conversation, holding the door, taking her to his car--Sara wondered for an irrational moment if she was being fired and this was his way of softening the blow. "Why?"  
  
He shook his head. "You'll see."  
  
Reaching his Tahoe, Grissom unlocked the passenger side door and motioned for her to get in. Satisfied when she complied, he shut her door and made his way around to the driver's seat. Shifting into the seat, he made no move to start the engine.  
  
"Grissom?" She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"Yes?" He asked, sounding so innocent she briefly wondered if he was intentionally messing with her head.  
  
"What are we doing?"  
  
Reaching behind him, he pulled out a flat package wrapped in light blue paper. "Happy birthday, Sara."  
  
She stared at him, not bothering to conceal her shock. "You remembered?"  
  
"I've never forgotten."  
  
"This is the first time I've ever gotten anything in a box." She smiled at the uneven wrapping job. Grissom was the poster boy for precision when it came to his work, but it didn't surprise her that it stopped there.  
  
Grissom merely shrugged, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel.  
  
Unsure if he wanted her to open it now, she spoke again. "Do you take all your subordinates hostage on their birthdays?"  
  
He turned and rewarded her with a quick smile. "Not all of them, no."  
  
"Good. Because I think Greg would be seriously confused."   
  
With a short laugh, he looked down to where she was picking at the edge of the paper with a fingernail. "Are you going to open it?"  
  
She looked at the box , then back at him as if in reconfirmation. At his nod, she tore into the wrapping. Pushing aside the debris, she pulled out a thin, hardcover book. Upon reading the title, she had to bite her lip to keep laughter at bay. "The Cockroach Compleat? Grissom..."  
  
He feigned indignation. "What? That's a very edifying text."  
  
"If you're five!"  
  
"I learned a lot from that book."  
  
She flipped through the pages and held up a particularly bright image of a roach that appeared to be dancing. "It has pictures."  
  
"Did you know that you can decapitate a roach and it will live for months, dying only of starvation?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You would have had you read this book before now."  
  
"Grissom..."  
  
"Read the front." Grissom suddenly appeared fascinated by the leather key chain hanging from the ignition.  
  
Sara turned the book over and found a message in blue scrawl on the facing page. The lighting poor, she brought it closer to her eyes. She read it once, and then again. Grissom was both nervous and pleased to see her mouth drop slightly. Her eyes ran over the page once again.  
  
When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. -- Richard Buckminster Fuller  
  
Thanks for making me realize solving the problem is just as beautiful as the solution itself. Happy 31st birthday. From Grissom.  
  
Sara sat speechless for a moment and he wondered for a moment if her eyes glistened because of the cold or for another reason entirely. Deciding that the latter gave him too much credit, he opted on the former. Not wanting to speak first, he waited.  
  
"I...don't know what to say. I'm really bad in these kind of situations." She explained with a watery laugh.  
  
He waved a hand at her. "Don't say anything. It's the truth."  
  
The tension in the car was palpable as they sat in silence, the only sound coming from a car pulling out of the driveway. The headlights flickered in the window and then disappeared, leaving each of their faces unreadable to the other. Sara coughed. "Well, this certainly got my birthday off to a good start. I wasn't expecting a gift. Much less a book full of fun facts about roaches." She paused and made eye contact. "Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome." He turned the ignition and the car settled into a low hum. Resting his arm across the back of the seats, he looked back and pulled out of the narrow space. "I'll drive you to your car."  
  
It was less than a minute when he came to a stop behind her parking spot. Flipping the lock to her door from his side panel, he watched as she pushed open the door. Distracted by the grounds light clicking off outside the department door, he was startled when he felt lips against his cheek and soft, long hair brushing against his chin. She pulled back and her mouth was inches from his, so close that he could feel her warm breath against his face. He was tempted to close the distance, but she pulled back and the moment was lost. Watching her break into an easy smile, he returned the look in kind.  
  
"Thanks again, Grissom."  
  
He nodded and looked on as she hopped to the ground. "Sara?"  
  
"Yeah?" Her eyebrows raised inquisitively.  
  
He felt 15 again. "Did...you want to grab dinner tonight?"  
  
"I'd like that."  
  
Then the door closed. It might have been Sara's birthday, but he wondered who actually got the better gift.  
  
  
  
FIN 


End file.
